Twin sprinkler



Jan. 26, 1937. w. VAN E. THOMPSON 2,068,718

' TWIN SPRINKLER File@ Jan. 21, 1935 /fvdfs/y roe.' A444715@ New E. 790/718500' Patented Jan. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES PATET GFFICE TWIN SPRINKLER California Application January 21, 1935, Serial No. 2,646

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements employed in surface irrigation, and relates particularly to a sprinkler of this character having a unique base and securing means.

The ordinary sprinkler, such as is employed for the sprinkling of lawns, comprises a metal body adapted to be secured to the end of a garden hose, such body having a water passage and a discharge orifice from which the sprinkler spray issues. Diiiiculty is often experienced in getting the sprinkler-to lie flat upon the lawn owing to a twist or torsion in the hose. Also difficulty is at times encountered where the sprinkler is placed on a sloping lawn. `My present invention comprehends a sprinkler having a simple means adapted for use in several different ways to hold the sprinkler in a desired position of operation.

It is an object of the invention to provide a sprinkler having a body with a leg member pivotally secured thereto, which leg member is sharpened so that it may be driven into the ground as a spike, together with means which will hold the sprinkler body in any one of a number of positions in which said body may be rotated on the leg which is driven into the ground or sod of a lawn. In the preferred practice of my invention I provide a base of substantially triangular form with a hose connection at one corner of the approximate triangle and with legs pivotally secured at the two remaining corners in such a manner that these legs may be employed in forwardly extending relation to serve as an extension of the base of the sprinkler, or may be swung into downwardly projecting position so as to engage the soil as spikes, or may be swung into retracted position against the endface of the sprinkler body.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sprinkler body having pivotally secured legs of this character adapted to hold the sprinkler body at an angle to the surface of the soil, thereby making it possible to secure the sprinkler in a level position on a sloping lawn, or in angular position on a level lawn for the purpose of controlling the `distribution of the spray of water delivered by the sprinkler.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification.

Referring to the tive purposes only,

Fig. l is a side View of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the legs in forwardly extending position.

drawing which is for illustra- Fig. 2 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the legs projecting downwardly and penetrating the soil as spikes.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing the manner 5 in which the legs may be employed to hold the sprinkler in tilted relation to the surface of the soil.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

As shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawing, I employ a body I0 which may be cast to the desired form by use of die casting methods. This body forms a pair of circular chambers II in side-by-side relation each having a central upwardly faced discharge orice I2. Extending rearwardly on the line of division A-A between the chambers II, the body includes an internally threaded hose connection I3 which communicates through a passage I4 with the interior `spaces of the chambers II indicated by dotted lines I5.

The body approximately coincides in shape with a triangle I6, the hose connection I3 occupying the rearward corner II thereof. The body I0 has a pair of lugs I3 projecting forwardly and outwardly therefrom in such position as to occupy the forward corners of the triangle I6. These lugs have the purpose of pivotally securing legs 2I to the body I0 in such a manner that these legs may be swung from the forward position in which they are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 through the downward extending intermediate position indicated in Fig. 3 to the retracted position in which they are shown by dotted lines 22 in Figs. l .and 2.

In the preferred form of the invention each leg comprises a metal bar 23 which may be readily punched from sheet metal, in the configuration shown in Fig. 5 this bar having the forward end 3 thereof pointed as indicated at 24 so that each leg 2| will be equipped with a point whereby it may be driven into the soil, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It is further shown in Fig. 5 that the rearward end 25 of each bar 23 has a downwardly extending enlargement 26 in which a relatively large opening 21 is punched. In addition to this, the rearward end 25 of each bar 23 is formed with a rearwardly presented end-face 28 extending perpendicularly to the upper edge 29 of the bar and meeting the upper edge 29 so as to form a corner 3I which will serve as a stop for the bar 23 when it is swung into forward and outward extended position, as shown in Fig. 5 and also in Figs. 1 and 2.

Each lug I8 is cast integrally with the body l0 and is cast with its cooperating leg 2| in place in extended position. In the casting of the lug I8, the metal thereof flows around opposite side faces of the enlargement at the rearward end 25 so as to form side walls 32 and 33. The metal also passes through the opening 2'| and forms therein a metal hinge pin 34 joining the side walls 32 and 33. I have found that the lugs may be cast in position on the ends of the legs 2| without a bond being formed betweenthe metal of the legs and of the lugs. Exceptionally good results may be obtained where the legs 2| are made of iron or steel and the body l0 and the lugs I8 are cast from a metal having a relatively low-temperature melting point, such, for example, as tin or an alloy thereof. The metal in being cast ows into engagement with the rearward end-face 28 of the leg 2| so as to form a wall 35 which will abut the end-face 28 when the leg 2| is in forwardly extended position. Therefore, the legs 2| may not be swung upwardly from the positions in which they are shown in Figs. l, 2, and 5, but may be rotated downwardly in view of the fact that the lower portion of the enlargement 26 is made semicircular as clearlyshown in Fig. 5.

A suitable recess is formed in the lower face of the body El to receive the legs 2| when they are in retracted position, as shown in Fig. 1, by projecting the lugs downwardly relative to the plane of the lower face 31 of the body I0, thus making it possible to form the hinge pin 34 in such lowered relation to the lower face 31 that the legs 2| will lie substantially flat against this lower face 3l when they are folded under the sprinkler body lil. y

It will be noted that the hinge means represented by the lugs I8 are so formed that the legs 2| swing through vertical planes which diverge forwardly and outwardly from the body I0. Therefore when the legs 2| are in forwardly extended position, as best shown in Fig. 2, they define an extension of the base or body of the sprinkler. These extended legs 2| in fact define an enlarged base for the sprinkler having the form of a triangle indicated by dotted lines 38. By the use of the legs 2| the base of the sprinkler may be extended not only forwardly but laterally as well, owing to the fact that the vertical planes through which the legs swing diverge forwardly and outwardly, as clearly shown. A further advantage of this manner of hingedly mounting the legs 2| is that when'they are swung downward and rearward into retracted position, they will lie entirely within the projected area of the body I0, as clearly indicated by dotted lines 22 of Fig. 2.

If a user nds that the hose has very little twist or torque therein when the sprinkler is i placed upon the lawn, he may merely extend the legs 2| so as to increase the size ofthe sprinkler base to that of the triangle 38 shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the sprinkler will lie ilat upon the surface of the lawn. Should the hose have a considerable twist therein, he may, without re- 5 arranging the hose so as to more or less eliminate this twist, extend the legs 2| downward into the position indicated at in Fig. 3 and push them into the sod or soil, whereupon the sprinkler will be firmly held in place. A further advantage of l0 the use of the legs in the position shown at 40 in Fig. 3 is that the sprinkler is held with suflcient security to resist displacement as a result of inadvertent kicking of the hose by a person walking across the same. l5

As shown in Fig. 4, the legs 2| may be employed to adjust the angle of the sprinkler relative to the surface of the ground if it is displaced. Each leg when projected downwardly serves as a spike which is pivotally secured to the sprinkler body 20 and on which spike the body may be rotated within prescribed limits. By raising or lowering one of the vertical legs while the other is left substantially stationary it is possible to adjustably rotate the sprinkler body into a desired 25 angular position relative to the surface of the lawn on which the sprinkler is placed. In this way the spray delivered by the sprinkler may be directed in one direction or another, or may be kept level even though the lawn on which the '30 sprinkler is placed may be non-horizontal.

Although my invention is shown in a simple practicable form, it is recognized that various changes may be made therein by the substitution of recognized equivalents without departing from T35 the spirit of the invention; therefore, the invention is to be limited in scope only by the hereinafter set forth claim. ,f

I claim as my invention:

In a sprinkler of the character described, 40 the combinaton of: a body having a pair of sideby-side chambers having outlets, and having an inlet for supplying liquid to said chambers; supporting formations on said body projecting downwardly therefrom and resting at the corners of a triangular area; a pair of leg members so pivotally connected to two of said supporting formations that they are swingable from an extended position horizontally outward from said body in diverging relationship toI provide a larger base, into depending position for penetration into the ground, and into collapsed position below said body and within the connes of said formations; and stop means operative when said leg members are in extended position for holding them in positions for coengagement by said leg members and said formations with the ground.

WALTER VAN E. THOMPSON. 

